April 13, 2008, "I Am the Light of the World"

Douglas Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church

Light of the World, illumine us all I pray, Amen.

My parents have a cottage in southern Maine where I spent all my summers growing up. It is less than 100 miles from Boston so it is not in the wilderness or anything; we always had electricity and indoor plumbing. One time when I was a young boy about five years old, my parents took us to visit friends from our church who had a place on Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine.

Things were a lot more rustic on the island and when night came it was so much darker than what we experienced living in Brookline right next to Boston. There was no electricity in the house, only two gas lights. My sisters and I were going to sleep upstairs and the darkness was the deepest I had ever experienced. I knew everything was okay and my parents were in the house but I couldn’t get over how dark it truly was – no night light, no streetlight edging around window shades – just unbelievable darkness. I lay in bed with my eyes open and it was darker than it was when I was in bed at home with my eyes shut. This amazed me. My mother must have been a little worried about how we would handle it because after a few minutes I could hear foot steps on the stairs which were at the far end from where I was lying in bed and then I could see light moving into the space and when the kerosene lamp my mother was carrying came into view it illuminated the entire attic so I could see everything and I felt more at ease with my surroundings. Obviously I have never forgotten that experience of darkness and light because it struck me so profoundly at a young age.

Living on Monhegan Island or Cape Cod one is blessed to be able to see the sun rise and set over the water if we choose. Seeing the beauty of a sunrise or sunset, recognizing the warmth and light the sun provides as well as its reliability, it isn’t a surprise that in many ancient cultures the sun itself was worshiped as a god. Jews and Christians don’t worship the sun but the God who made the sun and everything else. Connections between light and God’s power, presence, and glory are found throughout the Bible, starting in the beginning. The Bible opens saying that “the earth a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep,” and Genesis 1:3 states, “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”

The first act of creation is God speaking light into being and light was good and “God separated the light from the darkness” (Genesis 1:4).

Later Psalm 27:1 affirms, “The Lord is my light and my salvation,” and Psalm 36:9 states, “With you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.” In Luke 2 the prophet Simeon, guided by the Spirit, took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God, saying Jesus would be (Luke 2:32),

“a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

Images of light and darkness permeate John’s Gospel. John begins his Gospel by telling us that in Jesus there is life which is the light of all people and that light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not and will not ever overcome it. Jesus is the true light which enlightens everyone. In chapters 8 and 9, Jesus declares he is “the light of the world” and demonstrates the truth of his statement by giving light to the eyes of a man born blind. We have already shared two passages from John 1:1-14 and John 8:12-20, listen now to John 9:1-7:

“As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.”

In John’s Gospel, Jesus’ first statement about being the Light of the world is made in the temple in Jerusalem during the festival or Feast of Booths (also known as Tabernacles, John 7:2). This was a week long celebration commemorating the forty years Israel wandered in the desert during the time of Moses. (Former Prime Minister of Israel Golda Meir (1898-1978) once lamented that Moses led the people for forty years through the wilderness to the only place in the Middle East with no oil!) The Hebrew word for “booths” is Succoth, and after the Israelites left the land of Egypt, they camped at a place that bore this name – Succoth. It was there that God began to accompany them by day in a pillar of cloud and by night in a pillar of fire “to give them light” (Exodus 12:37; 13:20-22).[1]

Each evening in the temple during the Feast of Booths, worshipers crowded into the women’s court where four enormous lamp stands or candelabras, each with four large bowls of oil were lit with wicks made from the discarded undergarments of the priests! (That’s what you call recycling). Throughout the night, young men from priestly families climbed up ladders to refill the lamps so that the light shone constantly. The rays of light reflected off the temple’s white stone walls and the bronze gate at the end of the courtyard, where the Levites played their harps, lyres, cymbals and trumpets as men, noted for their piety and good works, sang and danced to the Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120-134) with as many as eight flaming torches in their hands. These Psalms help to capture the moods of the festival: “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord hear my voice…my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning” (Psalm 130:1, 6). “The Lord swore to David a sure oath…I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one” (Psalm 132:11, 17). “Come bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place, and bless the Lord” (Psalm 134:1-2).

The radiance emanating from the temple illumined courtyards throughout the city of Jerusalem until the first shafts of daylight appeared over the Mount of Olives. It is in this setting that John presents Jesus saying, “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” The oil burned out, the light of the lamps would be extinguished, the festival ended each year but Jesus is the light that will never be quenched or overwhelmed by darkness. It was widely understood that “walking in darkness” meant acting sinfully and that walking in the light meant living in accordance with the will of God. Proverbs 4:18-19 says, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness;

they do not know what they stumble over.” Doc Rivers, the Boston Celtics coach tells his players what his father told him, “Nothing good happens after midnight.” What he means is during the darkest part of the night a lot of bad things happen, violence and crime and abuse - people like the cover of darkness when they’re doing wrong, not the clear light of day. John 3:19-21 says, “the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

In John 9, as if to illustrate his claim to be the light of the world, Jesus enlightens the eyes of a man blind from birth, demonstrating he truly is “the light of the world” (9:5). The disciples asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?” It’s surprising what people will say to try and explain a disability, an infirmity, an illness, a disease or a death. Jesus replies,

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned” -

“His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents’ sins.

But that God’s power might be seen at work in him,

WE must keep on doing the works of him who sent ME as long as it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. ” Who talks like that? Who says your problem is an opportunity for God’s power and healing to be ministered through people? The Light of the world says so.

The rest of the story in John 9 is about discipleship and what it means to “see the light” physically as well as spiritually. The man faithful bears witness to what Jesus did for him regardless of the abuse he takes. The opponents of Jesus are those can’t see who he is, they are blind to the light, but the man is gradually able to see more clearly who Jesus is –to the point of finally calling him Lord. He moves from being in the dark to seeing in the light. He needed Jesus to lead him from the darkness to the light.

I read the following story by a woman looking back at a college experience. “When I was in college, I used to baby-sit for a six-year-old boy named Peter. His mother started hiring me after her husband died. I recall putting Peter to bed. The house was very old. Over the years various owners had added on to it section by section. The electrical system seemed to be an afterthought (sounds like an old Cape). There was only one way to switch on the light at the end of the upstairs hall where Peter’s bedroom was located: you had to turn at a right angle to the staircase and grope along the hall to his door until you felt the switch with your hand. Whenever we were downstairs watching television and it was time for bed, Peter would stare into the darkness at the top of the stairs and say to me, “You go first.” I would start up the stairs alone, and just as I was getting to the top step I would hear footsteps behind me. Then Peter’s hand was in mine, and I groped along the wall and found the switch.

What struck me about this is that Peter did not wait for me to turn on the light. It was enough simply to know I was there in the dark. “You go first, “he had said, and as long as I did go first, then he had the courage to follow after me. I remember Peter’s hand in mine to this day, not just because it charmed me, but because it touched something profound that I have observed is true in myself and others: The great hunger of the human heart to trust that there is some power, some strength, some hand waiting to take ours in the shadow of the unknown.”

She was a light that helped Peter face the darkness. There are dark times for all of us – times of stress, heartache, depression, disappointment, physical struggles, relational pain, financial hardship, regret, sin, yet in them all, if we will allow him, Jesus promises, “those who follow me will never walk in darkness.” If we live as Jesus teaches, then Jesus promises to shed light on our way. For those of us who follow Jesus in the light of life, one of the things we are called to do is to help other people when their way is dark. We are to let our light shine. Yesterday I led a memorial service for a 39 year old man, the father of two teenage daughters, who died unexpectedly this past Monday. One of the girls shared that she was supposed to be shopping with her dad yesterday, not at his funeral. Where does a person turn in moments like that? When we are walking through the darkest valley, God still sheds the light of life upon us and through us to those who feel like they cannot see any light at the moment. Og Mandino wrote, “I will love the light for it shows me the way. Yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.” There is a sense in which we are like the moon which has no light of its own; all it can do is reflect the light of the sun. We can reflect the light and love of Jesus to others.

One final thing about light is that it can both illuminate or it can blind us if we aren’t careful. That is the way it is with Jesus as the light of the world as well.

Blaise Pascal observed, “In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't.”

“Light has many functions that makes it a good symbol for Jesus. Light helps us see things. Jesus gives us the truth about God and about life, our origin, and our destiny. Light guides us as we travel. Jesus guides us safely through life to our heavenly home. Light promotes growth and life. Jesus brings us everlasting life. Light warms and comforts. Jesus welcomes us and calms us. Light prevents crime. Jesus is goodness itself. Light dispels darkness, which stands for evil. Jesus pierces the darkness of sin and death and conquers them. All the darkness in the world cannot put out one candle flame. Jesus cannot be overcome by evil.”[2]

In the Old Testament, the prophet Zechariah describes a time (14:7) “when God comes to reign over all the earth, there shall be continuous day (it is known to the Lord), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light.”

In the final chapter of the final book of the Bible, in John’s vision of heaven, in Revelation 22:5, it says,

“And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, they will reign forever and ever. Amen”

Blessing –

The cross, we will take it. The bread, we will break it.

The pain, we will bear it. The joy, we will share it.

The Gospel, we will live it. The love, we will give it.

The light, we will cherish it.

The darkness, God shall perish it. - The Iona Community

John 1:1-14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own; and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.

John 8:12-20, 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” 13 Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.” 19 Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.”

Quotes about Light

In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't. ~Blaise Pascal

For light I go directly to the Source of light, not to any of the reflections. ~Peace Pilgrim

There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind. ~Annie Dillard

The black moment is the moment when the real message of transformation is going to come. At the darkest moment comes the light. ~Joseph Campbell

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. ~Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

He that has light within his own clear breast

May sit i' the centre, and enjoy bright day:

But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts

Benighted walks under the mid-day sun;

Himself his own dungeon.

~John Milton

His high endeavors are an inward light

That makes the path before him always bright.

~William Wordsworth

The windows of my soul I throw

Wide open to the sun.

~John Greenleaf Whittier

Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished. ~Michael Strassfeld

We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own. ~Ben Sweetland

The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of the world, himself a light. ~Felix Adler

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. ~Anthony J. D'Angelo

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. ~Norman B. Rice

How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one finds darkness not only in one's culture but within oneself? There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light. ~Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams

Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in. ~Alan Alda

An age is called "dark," not because the light fails to shine but because people refuse to see it. ~James Michener

The sun shines and warms and lights us and we have no curiosity to know why this is so; but we ask the reason of all evil, of pain, and hunger, and mosquitoes and silly people. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

There they stand, the innumerable stars, shining in order like a living hymn, written in light. ~N.P. Willis

I will love the light for it shows me the way. Yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars. Og Mandino

In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary. ~Aaron Rose

[1] For those of you asking for even more homework, you can check out more about this in Exodus 14:19-20, Psalms 78:14 and 105:39. The pillar of fire is mentioned in the celebration of the Feast of Booths in Nehemiah 9:12, 19. See also Zechariah 14:7-16 about light and the Feast of Booths.

[2] Sister Mary Kathleen Glavich, S.N.D., Sister Mary Nanette Herman, S.N.D.